Maccabi Haifa may be in crisis mode as they have now lost 2 in a row going down at home 2-0 to Raanana while Beer Sheva & Maccabi Tel Aviv win!

Hapoel Akko 1-4 Maccabi Tel Aviv

Maccabi Tel Aviv were made to feel at home tonight in an “away” game that was held in Netanya due to Akko’s radius punishment. More than 6,000 yellow & blue supporters made their way north to watch a demolition of the opposition while only 132 Akko diehards came down from the historic city of Jews & Arabs.

In an atmosphere similar to what would be in a half full Bloomfield stadium Eran Zahavi took center stage yet again. Scoring two goals, the first via the penalty spot after an indirect free kick was awarded to the visitors due to ‘keeper Dudu Goresh’s handling of the ball in the box which resulted in the kick being blocked by Yuval Abidor’s hand and giving MTA a quick lead. Zaahvi doubled the score 10 minutes later scoring a low quick from the right side of the box that found it’s way into the back of the goal. Omri Ben Harush unleashed a wicked strike that went top shelf before halftime.

Barack Badash finished off the Maccabi scoring and Hamdi Salhi the Albanian striker for Akko broke the shutout with seconds to go. After the game Pako Ayestaran was not pleased that his team took their foot off of the gas in the 2nd half and let his team know that. He also spoke to the media about a disgruntled an unhappy Eden Ben Basat who again wasn’t in the coach’s plan however Nosa Igiebor played the full 90 minutes and Sean Goldberg made his debut first team performance leaving everyone questioning what Ayestaran has up his sleeve especially with 3 matches in 8 days.

Maccabi Tel Aviv will need to manage their players carefully over this next week as they face Ashdod on Wednesday & Hapoel Tel Aviv in the derby next Monday night. Is there more than meets the eye with Pako not starting players like Rada Prica, Ben Reichert & the aforementioned Ben Basat? I’m not sure, but as in all soap operas the story will play out in due time.

Maccabi Petach Tikva 0-4 Hapoel Beer Sheva

Petach Tikva coach Ran Ben Shimon was suspended for this match but even his coaching skills wouldn’t have stopped a Beer Sheva bulldozer that put up a 4 spot on the home side. A referee error gave Dovev Gabbay the opportunity to score from the penalty spot at the stroke of halftime. Erez Piper thought he had seen a handball on the box, but in reality there was no handball & the play was outside of the box and gifted the Reds a 1-0 lead. The second half saw Maor Bozaglo star as he delivered a beautiful outlet pass to Ben Biton who turned it over to Roie Gordana who scored to make it 2-0. A Bozaglo goal made it 3-0 and after he was pulled down in the box a Shlomi Arbeitman penalty finished off the onslaught to give Elisha Levy the win.

Maccabi Haifa 0-2 Hapoel Raanana

Haim Silvas and his Hapoel Raanana team scored a huge upset defeating Maccabi Haifa at the new Sammy Ofer Stadium proving that their play this season has not been fluky and are a dangerous foe for any side. On the other side of the coin Aleksandar Stanojević, the Haifa coach says his club is now in a crisis losing two games in a row with Hapoel Beer Sheva away around the corner on Tuesday night. Evans Kangwa & Anthony Nwakaeme both scored off of corner kicks to give the visitors the shutout victory.

Maccabi Netanya 2-1 Bnei Sahknin

Netanya came away with a valuable 3-points with an Idan Shriky 96th minute free kick goal. The home side took a 1-0 lead on Romanian Cristian Srighi’s goal but a Shimon Harush own goal late in the game almost gave Bnei Sakhnin a plot of the points. However, Sakhnin keeper Muhamed Kandil was unable to stop the late strike and would rather forget one of his poorest matches in a while.

Kiryat Shemona 1-0 Hapoel Haifa

Table leaders Kiryat Shemona continued it’s winning ways as Ofir Mizrachi scored the lone goal in the contest against an overmatched Haifa squad. The win will ensure that Kiryat Shemona will still lead the league now with 13 points.

Ashdod 1-3 Hapoel Petach Tikva

Petach Tikva won its 2nd straight match defeating Ashdod away in front of 2500 fans in attendance. The visitors were given a 1-0 lead on Alexander Davidov’s own goal and the score would stay that way until Sagiv Cohen gave HPT a 2-0 in the 87th minute. But David Solari cut the lead just two minutes later on a penalty but Omri Altman’s pinpoint pass to Hasan Abu Zaid was all she wrote as the Maccabi Tel Aviv property gave the visitors a 3-1 win.